The Manor
by Littleelizabethhenshaw
Summary: Based on the Disney movie, The Haunted Mansion, it seems innocent to any and all outsiders. There are, however, a few people who know the history of this elaborate mansion, and that it has been uninhabited since 1887. Welcome, Foolish Mortals...
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

However grateful he was then he had gotten this summer job, he was over it now. The end of his route consisted of Gracey Manor, which was _not _a place anyone in their right mind wanted to pass, led alone deliver real estate flyers to. Of all places, why did it have to be Gracey Manor?

It was near the end of his first day, and he was coming upon the dreaded mansion. He rode up to the gates, but saw they were chained shut, locked by a padlock. Not only that, but the top of the wrought iron gates came up to a point, which would hurt if fallen upon, and he wasn't great at climbing anyways. He stood for a while, searched for a callbox, but couldn't find one. So, not wanting to lose his job on the first day, he began to walk to the other side of the place, when a huge gust of wind pushed him to the ground, getting dirt into his eyes, and restricting his vision. He got up as fast as he could manage and ran, leaving the flyers and his bike lying on the ground.

Now, to any innocent bystander, this would all seem perfectly harmless, it would seem to them that he overreacted, but to anyone who lived around here and knew the history of Gracey Manor, his reaction seemed perfectly adequate.

It was, at one point, the place to be. The mansion used to be full of lively balls and masquerades. For the master of this mansion, Sir Edward Gracey, was the successor of his father, George Gracey, who much enjoyed company. So it was in Edward's best interests that he keep up, and attempt to boost, his father's reputation in the eyes of the public who so much adored Gracey Manor. Until, that is, the night that it all happened.


	2. Chapter 1: For Evers and Evers

**Chapter one: For Evers and Evers**

Jim Evers was with a particularly stubborn client when his phone rang. He looked down to discover that it was his wife, Sarah.

"Hello, Jim Evers of Evers and Evers real estate, how may I be of assistance?" he asked.

"Hey Jim!" Sarah began enthusiastically, " with the clients again? Well, do they at least seem interested in the house?" Generally, this was how they communicated whenever one of them was with a client.

"I regret to inform you that this property is no longer available," he replied in mock regret.

"They settled on a house!" She exclaimed rather loudly, "I admire you for that."

"Ah, yes," Jim replied, " we can, however, meet around, say, six to discuss other options. If you're preapproved, of course."

"Six sounds fantastic," Sarah replied, beaming, "see you then."

She, however, wasn't aware that he'd been planning a camping trip for six months straight. He wanted it to be a secret, and it had to be perfect. He'd planned on bringing her down to Lake Pontchartrain, where they'd had there anniversary. It was supposed to be a better-thought-out second honeymoon, of sorts. You see, their first went less than swimmingly. It rained just about the entire time, and all they had were wimpy tents and thin sleeping bags. They had neglected to check the forecast last time, but this time, he had everything planned out, knew the weather, had the right equipment, and had planned pretty much accordingly. He was very excited, this time would be so much better, if not perfect. It was finally coming together.


	3. Chapter 2: At Your Service

**Chapter two: At Your Service **

The two got home merely moments apart, which Sarah thought was quite odd seeing as Jim was late more often than not.

"You're home surprisingly on time," she teased as he walked through the door.

"Well," he began slowly, " I thought on this most important night I should be home as soon as possible. If you want me to leave again and come back later, I can."

"No, this is a good time," she replied with an eyebrow raised, trying to figure out what could be going on, "what did you have in mind for tonight?"

"I was thinking we'd head to the lake to camp for the weekend," he said shyly as he walked to her and gently pushed a strand of chocolate brown hair out of her hazel eyes, would you be okay with that?"

"Oh Jim," she began as tears of joy spilled from her eyes, "that would be more than okay. That would be perfect."

"So we can close on this?" he asked, lightly kissing her forehead and wiping away her tears.

"We can more than close on this," she said laughing at his real estate humor, "I'll go pack then."

"All you need to do is change, I left morning appointments open so we could leave right after work," he said, "I'll go load the car."

He went upstairs to grab the suitcases and loaded them into the trunk of the car as quickly as he could. However, it wasn't quickly enough, because when he got back, Sarah was on the phone in full business mode.

"Oh," she sighed, "so you got our flyer."

"Yes," rasped the voice on the other end, "the master wishes to meet you at once."

"I'm sorry Mr. Ramsley, but I have previous arrangements," she replied apologetically.

"But he requires your presence immediately," Ramsley explained, "the situation is quite dire, you see."

At this point she took the phone away from her ear and covered the receiver, "Jim, it's a new client who needs to see us at once. They say the situation is dire. Should we go?"

"Dear," Jim began remorsefully, "I don't think we have a choice. Tell them we'll be there by eight."

She sighed as she uncovered the receiver, "I've managed to rearrange things, so we'll be there by eight."

"I'm sorry we have to take this little detour, but if all goes well we'll be in and out of there in no time," he said hopefully once Sarah hung up the phone.

"Oh I'm sure," she began sadly, "it's just that this was supposed to be perfect. It was all going to be perfect."

"It still will be," he said as he embraced her, "I promise."


	4. Chapter 3: To The Mansion

**Chapter three: To The Mansion**

The two arrived at the mansion promptly at eight, but saw no way to get in. At that point however, that wasn't even a worry in their minds. The sheer size of it stunned them both into silence.

"Have you ever seen anything like this?" Sarah exclaimed in awe.

"Never in my life, but Sarah look at this detail," Jim replied also a little more than stunned.

"I know, but theirs just one problem," she began to point out, "how do we get in?"

"I'm not exactly sure," he began in a puzzled tone, "Hello! The Evers are here!"

"Honey," Sarah chastised, "I think we should try to make a better first impression if we aim to sell this house."

"Right, let's go up to the gates," he said as he opened the car door.

They both went up to the gates, but it was padlocked with a thick chain.

"Do you think they have a call box or something?" Sarah asked as she turned the rusted lock over in her hands.

"It doesn't look like it," Jim started, "how 'bout I climb over and go around back, surprise them?"

"You'll probably kill them," she snickered, "let's get going, it's getting late."

"I'm good with that," he said as he grabbed her hand to walk back to the car.

As they turned to get back into the car, the heavy gates slowly squeaked open. They got in and drove through. When they reached the front they stepped out and walked to the lavish porch.

"Honey," Jim began, "before we go in I'm going to check out the backlot."

"Hm? Alright," she said absently, still in awe of how large and detailed the place was.

Jim traveled to the back of the mansion and was at first mesmerized by the size of it. Then, upon further inspection he discovered that it was, in fact a cemetery.

"Hey honey, you know they've got dead people in the backyard?" he called to his wife.

"Well," she teased, "some people have pools, others have private cemeteries."

He laughed but said, "We're gonna try to sell a house with this in the back?"

"You mean a historic sprawl and spacious grounds? Yes," she replied smugly.

"Hey that's good, we'll put that on the listing," he said in pure admiration for her quick flip of the situation. He'd always admired that she could make the best of a bad situation.

"I try my best," she said.

Just then, a loud clap of thunder rumbled and fat drops of rain began falling from the now angry gray sky.

"Oh no," Sarah cried, "I hope it's not raining at the lake."

They ran around to the front and Jim picked up the large, heavy knocker and then dropped it in surprise. It made a loud thud noise as it dropped back into place. They both figured that would've gotten the attention of whoever was inside so they waited five minutes, but nothing happened.

"Hey Sarah, can you help me with this?" Jim asked.

They had to use both of their hands and it was still too heavy. They let go and it dropped back into place once again. This time however, the door swung back on its hinges. They looked at each other arching an eyebrow, but stepped inside. They had no desire to stand in the rain any longer.

"Hello!" Jim called, "Jim and Sarah Evers of Evers and Evers real estate! Anyone here?"

No one answered so they decided to wait for further happening and take in the lovely foyer they were standing in. Two beautiful marble staircases curved around a doorway that lead down a hall that seemed to go on for miles. The floors were a beautiful mahogany with just a few scuff marks and scratches on it.

the lights flickered when lightning streaked the sky causing the room to momentarily turn a blinding white. When the lights came back up, a man was walking down the corridor towards them. He wore a very proper suit which covered most all of his neck, his hands were covered by bright white gloves, and his shoes were a freshly polished black. None of his skin was showing except that of his ashen white face.

"Hello, I'm Jim and this is my wife, Sarah," he said.

"Sarah Evers?" the man asked.

"Yes, that's me," she began shyly, "this is my husband, Jim."

"I am Ramsley," he rolled his 'R' slightly, making his raspy English accent even more intimidating, "the master was very pleased to hear that you could make it on such short notice."

"Yes well," Jim began slowly and quietly when Ramsley looked at him so degradingly, "when we heard the circumstances we came at once."

With yet another distasteful look at Jim, he replied, "This may be however, we were not expecting... others. We will have to place other settings."

"Settings?" Sarah questioned, "I'm sorry but we have other plans."

"Yes but we mustn't be rude, darling," Jim said to his anxious wife, "look, we'll just have some soup and be on our way. Twenty minutes tops."

"Well," she began reluctantly, "okay I guess this isn't too bad."

"Good, then follow me," Ramsley broke in.

He pivoted on his heel and marched rather than walked down the long hall. He led them past suits of armor, side tables, and candelabras. Most of which were covered with cobwebs and thick layers of dust.

"This place could use a deep cleaning," Sarah whispered to her husband.

"Agreed," he whispered back, "don't worry, the first thing we'll do is get the cleaning crew in here. I noticed a lot of little scuff marks and scratches on the hardwood in the foyer."

While they were discussing showing options Ramsley led them to a door at the very end of the hall which was covered by a thick tapestry with elegant patterns on it.


	5. Chapter 4: First Encounters

**Chapter four: First Encounters**

He let them in and said, "The master will be with you shortly," then turned and left.

"Well, he's a bit odd, don't you think?" Jim asked.

"Yes, very," Sarah agreed, "but, Jim, look at this, the attention to detail. You don't see something like this everyday, as a matter of fact, I never have!"

"Haven't you?" said a man standing at the window looking out, scaring the bejesus out of them when he suddenly spoke, "I didn't mean to startle you, my apologies. My grandfather spared no expense when building this mansion."

"Well, your grandad had great taste in cache keys! Jim Evers of Evers and Evers real estate," Jim said extending his hand to the gentleman_. Was he there a few seconds ago?_

He bowed his head slightly and replied, "Edward, Edward Gracey."

Jim held his hand out, shaking it a little before giving up, grunting, and saying, "This is my wife, Sarah."

Edward looked quite taken when he laid his eyes upon Sarah, as if he'd known her his whole life. Quite frankly this made her extremely uncomfortable, to the point where she blushed and took to staring at the floor. Even Jim was quite intimidated by this man, afraid for some reason that he would lose his faithful wife. He was quite handsome with deep set dark green eyes and smooth alabaster skin. He was tall and quite erect, his back not bowing, showing unwavering confidence.

"Let us waste no time," Ramsley said, leading Jim and Sarah to the table, pulling out a chair for her with Jim seated at herside.

"Do you like the house, Miss Evers?" Master Gracey asked.

"Yes," she gushed, "the Italian influence, the attention to detail. We don't see something like this everyday, or at least I don't.

Master Gracey was delighted by her response.

"This house has been in your family for generations," Sarah began, "tell me, why do you want to sell it?"

"Yes, but lately it has become too much to bear. Tell me, Mr. Evers, do you believe in ghosts?" Master Gracey asked forebodingly.

"I do, yes," Jim answered, "I don't think it's a good Idea to put that on the listing. We should stick to bathrooms, or bedrooms. People love those!"

After that, it was basically silent. You could hear the storm perfectly.

"The storm has flooded the road," Ramsley said, puncturing the silence.

"Pardon?" Sarah asked anxiously.

"The storm has flooded the road," he repeated, "I'm afraid there will be no leaving tonight."

"But we have plans! Jim, we have to go!" Sarah cried.

"We'll figure this out," Jim comforted his wife, "I'm sure there's a back road out of here."

"I'm afraid there's no other way," Edward began, "of course you're both more than welcome to stay here."

They sat in silence for another twenty minutes or so, sadness furrowing Sarah's brow.

It was broken only once more, this time by Master Gracey to say, "Ramsley can show you to your room."

"Sir, Madame, this way please," the butler said s ushering them from the room.

they traveled again down the dusty hall out to the foyer. Once there, Ramsley led them to the left side of the curved marble staircase and up to the middle wing.

The hall was filled with antique vases and tables, even a few couches lining the wall. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust.

Ramsley led them down the hall a ways, passing many closed doors until finally, "I believe the two of you will be most comfortable in this room.

"Thank you," Sarah said.

"Yes, just ring this bell if there is anything else you require," he replied.

"This is perfect," Jim began, "like spending the night in a fine hotel."

"Yes sir," said Ramsley distastefully as he pivoted on his heel and shut the door as he left.

as the door clicked shut, Sarah looked at her husband, eyebrows raised and said, "You know, I don't think Ramsley likes you very much."

"Oh, I definitely wouldn't doubt that," Jim agreed.


End file.
